heavy, and so I ran as fast as I could, sobs rising in my throat. I still had my staff, but that fearsome creature was fast. I didn’t hold out much hope for my chances.
As I ran, I saw the barn to my left. Could I hide in there? The door ahead was slightly ajar, so I didn’t need to open it or make any noise that would give away my position.
Inside, the mist was much thinner, and I searched around desperately for a place to conceal myself. A lantern hanging from a hook up in the rafters cast a weak light, showing me that I had few options. A few bales of straw lay on the floor, along with a number of large barrels, twenty or more. Some stood upright; others on their sides, as if ready to roll away. Most were empty. I crept farther into the barn and crouched down behind one of the barrels. It was large enough to hide me from anything coming in through the big door.
As I held my breath, waiting, I suddenly remembered that the hairy creature had no eyes. Would it use its sense of smell to find me? Maybe I was wasting my time hiding at all. But where else could I go?
I stayed where I was. It was quiet in the barn, and all I could hear was the noise of my breathing and my heart hammering inside my ears.
But then there was a pattering and a scratching. Something with sharp claws was walking across the three rows of flagstones at the entrance to the barn. It was coming! Next I heard a wet, snuffling, slithering sound, and it waddled into the barn, its distended belly still trailing on the floor. I saw again the sharp triangular nose, the rodentlike teeth that had made such quick work of the farmer’s wife. The plate of bone looked different now that I could see it clearly. It wasn’t smooth after all. It had sharp ridges and small pointed protuberances. They could do a lot of damage to soft flesh.
But most eye-catching were its long, thick whiskers. They twitched and moved as the creature advanced. Some hung down and scraped along the floor. The upper ones seemed to be testing the air.
Suddenly I understood how it located its living prey. The victim’s scent played a part—the witch had been standing right next to the body of the farmer’s wife when the creature leaped off her shoulder. But with something that was alive, its whiskers would no doubt detect the tiny movements of the air caused by the rising and falling of a chest or even the beating of a heart.
In seconds it would locate me. I needed to take the initiative.
The big barrel next to the one I was hiding behind lay on its side. I leaped to my feet and started rolling it toward the creature. It rumbled across the floor, faster and faster.
The strange beast didn’t move. Had its enormous meal made it sluggish? I wondered. In another second, it would be crushed. But at the last moment, it leaped into the air and landed on the barrel just before it reached the barn door and came to a grinding halt. Its claws scratched and slithered, trying to find a purchase, concentrating on keeping its balance. This was my chance!
I moved faster than ever before. My life depended on it. I ran forward, stabbed downward with all my strength, and had my first stroke of luck since entering the valley.
The blade of my staff had pinned the creature to the barrel. It screeched at me and showed its sharp teeth, all the while twisting under the blade, desperate to be free. Trickles of blood ran down the barrel as its nails clawed the air, but it couldn’t reach me. Suddenly more blood gushed from its mouth, and it twitched a few times before falling still.
I waited for a moment to make sure that it was dead, and then tugged my blade out of the wood, allowing the creature’s body to slide to the floor. I had been lucky that it had fed so recently. But for that, it might have been too quick for me.
It was dead now, and for that I was thankful, but I was not out of the woods yet. Where was the witch?
She would surely be approaching the barn—slowly, because of her injury. But
As I ran, I saw the barn to my left. Could I hide in there? The door ahead was slightly ajar, so I didn’t need to open it or make any noise that would give away my position.
Inside, the mist was much thinner, and I searched around desperately for a place to conceal myself. A lantern hanging from a hook up in the rafters cast a weak light, showing me that I had few options. A few bales of straw lay on the floor, along with a number of large barrels, twenty or more. Some stood upright; others on their sides, as if ready to roll away. Most were empty. I crept farther into the barn and crouched down behind one of the barrels. It was large enough to hide me from anything coming in through the big door.
As I held my breath, waiting, I suddenly remembered that the hairy creature had no eyes. Would it use its sense of smell to find me? Maybe I was wasting my time hiding at all. But where else could I go?
I stayed where I was. It was quiet in the barn, and all I could hear was the noise of my breathing and my heart hammering inside my ears.
But then there was a pattering and a scratching. Something with sharp claws was walking across the three rows of flagstones at the entrance to the barn. It was coming! Next I heard a wet, snuffling, slithering sound, and it waddled into the barn, its distended belly still trailing on the floor. I saw again the sharp triangular nose, the rodentlike teeth that had made such quick work of the farmer’s wife. The plate of bone looked different now that I could see it clearly. It wasn’t smooth after all. It had sharp ridges and small pointed protuberances. They could do a lot of damage to soft flesh.
But most eye-catching were its long, thick whiskers. They twitched and moved as the creature advanced. Some hung down and scraped along the floor. The upper ones seemed to be testing the air.
Suddenly I understood how it located its living prey. The victim’s scent played a part—the witch had been standing right next to the body of the farmer’s wife when the creature leaped off her shoulder. But with something that was alive, its whiskers would no doubt detect the tiny movements of the air caused by the rising and falling of a chest or even the beating of a heart.
In seconds it would locate me. I needed to take the initiative.
The big barrel next to the one I was hiding behind lay on its side. I leaped to my feet and started rolling it toward the creature. It rumbled across the floor, faster and faster.
The strange beast didn’t move. Had its enormous meal made it sluggish? I wondered. In another second, it would be crushed. But at the last moment, it leaped into the air and landed on the barrel just before it reached the barn door and came to a grinding halt. Its claws scratched and slithered, trying to find a purchase, concentrating on keeping its balance. This was my chance!
I moved faster than ever before. My life depended on it. I ran forward, stabbed downward with all my strength, and had my first stroke of luck since entering the valley.
The blade of my staff had pinned the creature to the barrel. It screeched at me and showed its sharp teeth, all the while twisting under the blade, desperate to be free. Trickles of blood ran down the barrel as its nails clawed the air, but it couldn’t reach me. Suddenly more blood gushed from its mouth, and it twitched a few times before falling still.
I waited for a moment to make sure that it was dead, and then tugged my blade out of the wood, allowing the creature’s body to slide to the floor. I had been lucky that it had fed so recently. But for that, it might have been too quick for me.
It was dead now, and for that I was thankful, but I was not out of the woods yet. Where was the witch?
She would surely be approaching the barn—slowly, because of her injury. But
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